SUNDAY, FEB. 17 2013  >>>

1. "Numero By Northwest" is an unusual DJ showcase at The Brotherhood Lounge at 9 p.m. And by unusual, we mean rare - but we also mean weird, which in Olympia, equates to awesome. The Numero Group's Ken Shipley, Justin Trosper from Unwound/Survival Knife and DJ Wildman James will spin soul, garage and other obscure gems in the comfort of a lounge where a wall of carpet JFKs and gigantic hanging guitars make it feel like your best friend's living room. Dancers and wallflowers welcome.

2. Something unique will happen in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop. An artist will return for the second of two back-to-back residencies, a rare occurrence to be sure. Said artist is Raven Skyriver, maker of intriguingly real-looking marine creatures large and small. He scored two residencies in a row by winning two separate awards at the Red Hot Party & Auction last September. He won both the People's Choice and Artists' Choice awards, each came with a hot shop residency, which ends today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3. Next to Normal ends its run at the Capital Playhouse with a 2 p.m. staging. In the play we find Diana Goodman waiting up for her teen-aged son while her insomniac daughter Natalie does calculus homework. As her husband Dan sings the next morning, it's "Just Another Day" in workaday suburbia. What we haven't figured out is why Diana's so distracted. She has a better idea than we do, but even her shrink, the ironically named Dr. Madden, can't get a handle on her dysfunction, prescribing one cocktail after another of happy pills. Because yeah: this musical goes there. Diana's mentally ill, and it's unclear whether trauma some years ago brought on these troubles or they already existed, depriving her of the ability to cope. Read Christian Carvajal's full review of Next to Normal in the Weekly Volcano's Arts section.

4. The Progressive Dinner Tour presented by Studio 6 Ballroom hits Sixth Avenue at 4, 5 and 6 p.m. This month's Progressive Dinner Tour has a Valentine's Day spin. Studio 6 says you can join a group of singles or a group of couples. Also, the event has been titled "6 ways to Stimulate your Sense on 6^th Ave," although we counted only four ways - meals at Six Olives, Gateway to India, Cork! Wine Bar with dessert back at Studio 6. Maybe number five is Maia Santell & House Blend filling Studio 6 with blues and jazz for dancing. Maybe the sixth way to stimulate your senses is a surprise. All your questions may be answered at 253.905.5301.

5. The Albert Square makes peppy pop-punk that calls to mind other practitioners of grinning, clever alt-rock, like They Might Be Giants, the Dead Milkmen and Cake - not to mention Barenaked Ladies, Blink 182 and Ben Kweller. You get the idea. But no matter how clever you are, you'd be dead in the water without some serious, smart hooks, and the Albert Square has those in spades. Joining the Albert Square for a free show at 9 p.m. inside Wingman Brewers are fellow indie rocker Brooklyn Pool, Trees and Timber, and the up-and-coming awesomeness of Shogun Barbie.

LINK: Sunday, Feb. 17 arts and entertainemtn events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area